


Rose Tico Appreciation Day

by BaronVonChop



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, very fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23230960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronVonChop/pseuds/BaronVonChop
Summary: Rose's friends try to show her some much-deserved appreciation! But can three heroes of the Resistance rise to the challenge of baking a cake?Fluffy fluff.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Rose Tico Appreciation Day

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta reader for reading! Any remaining mistakes are on me.

The cake may have been a bad idea.

Poe had seen cakes being baked before, and Finn and Rey had certainly consumed plenty of cake since they had joined the Resistance. As it turned out, seeing cakes being baked or eating them were not the same things as baking them.

They had been at it for an hour already, trying their best to bake Rose a cake, and the barracks kitchen was covered in flour, sugar, and egg.

Rey floated an egg above a bowl with the Force. She concentrated, her lips pursed with effort. A tiny hairline crack appeared in the eggshell, and then it exploded. "I almost had it that time!"

Finn picked up a half-full bowl, put it down, picked up another one, put it down, picked up the first one, and peered at it. "Is this sugar or flour?" He poked it with a finger, then tasted it. "Mm, definitely sugar!" He paused. "I think. Better test it again to make sure."

BB-8 gave a mechanical blorp and bowed his head, then looked up at Poe. Poe put his hands on his hips, smiling fondly at his friends. "I think BB-8 is right. We have to surrender the mission. It's time to call in an expert."

The expert walked in a few minutes later. "Fortunately for you, I am well versed in over five hundred recipes for cake!" C-3PO declared. BB-8 gave a skeptical beep. "First, you start with 9.6744 dkg flour…"

After several minutes of increasingly frustrated attempts to follow Threepio's directions, as the droid continued to add more and more ingredients in increasingly smaller quantities, Poe asked, "Threepio, what recipe is this, exactly?"

Threepio straightened. "Why, the most logical one!"

Poe sighed, already suspecting what was coming. "And which one is that?"

"It is the statistical average of every cake recipe in my memory!"

Poe slumped, but Rey was grinning, and Finn looked hopefully at the batter. "Maybe we can put it in the oven and see what happens?"

"Worth a shot," Poe said, shaking his head. He thought of something he had heard growing up when times were lean and dinner was whatever was in the pot. "It should be edible. Everything in it is food."

"And besides, the cake doesn't have to be amazing," Rey pointed out. "We have a great gift to go with it!"

* * *

Finn, Rey, Poe, and BB-8 led Rose to a folding camp-style table and chairs they had set up at the edge of the forest. "This had better be worth it," Rose said, though she had a smile on her face. "I had to call in some favors to get someone to cover my maintenance shift." When she saw the cake sitting on the table, she paused. "Oh wow."

"Happy birthday!" the trio exclaimed.

Rose turned to them, her eyes bright. "But my birthday isn't for another couple of weeks!"

"True," Finn admitted, "but we're all here, and nobody's busy, so we figured, why waste the opportunity?"

Up close, it was clear that the frosting hadn't done the cake any favors. Still, it was cake.

Rose noticed the missing bits that the trio had frosted over in a vain attempt to hide them. "You guys tried it already?"

"We had to make sure it was edible!" Finn protested.

Rose raised her eyebrows, but Poe added, "No, seriously, we did. And it is!"

Rey stepped forward, but Poe beat her to it, darting a dubious glance at the lightsaber at Rey's side. He cut them each a slice, managing to make them more or less even. He handed everyone a plate and a fork.

Rose studied it. "What kind of cake is it?"

Rey thought about the question. "It's every kind," she said, "but it's also one of a kind."

Rose gave her a look. "You're really enjoying the whole mysterious Jedi thing, aren't you?"

"A bit, yeah."

They all ate a bite. "You know," Rose said thoughtfully, "this is…" she paused. "Edible."

Poe clapped his hands. "I'll take it!"

As they ate, Rose's face began to fall. Finn noticed. "It's not that bad, is it? I think it's… pretty good! Maybe if we add more icing..."

"No, it's not that," Rose said. "It's just…" She blew out a breath. Finn and Poe exchanged a worried look, and Rey put a hand on her arm. Rose patted it. "I've never celebrated a birthday without Paige before. I know it's been years since her death, but… well, there hasn't been time for birthdays."

Rey looked in her eyes, her face kind. "Hey. It doesn't have to be a birthday party if you don't want it to be."

Rose sniffled, then gave her nose a hard rub, as though it had betrayed her. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice wobbly. "Everyone celebrates birthdays. I should be able to have a birthday party without falling to pieces."

"I don't celebrate birthdays," Finn said.

"What?" Rose blinked.

Finn shrugged. "The First Order never told me when my birthday is."

Rose hesitated. "Finn, I've been to one of your birthday parties!"

Finn shook his head. "That wasn't a birthday party. We were celebrating the day I left the First Order! We don't have to celebrate your birthday if you don't want to. It can be…" He looked to the others.

"Rose Tico Appreciation Day," Poe offered.

Finn nodded. "If that's okay with you."

"Yeah," Rose said, her voice soft. Then, a little louder, "Yeah, I think that'd be okay."

"Good, because we got you a present!" Rey said.

Rose looked around but did not see anything. "You did?"

"Well, it's mostly from Rey," Finn said.

Rey smacked his shoulder. "We talked about this! It's from all of us. And Chewie, too, since he had to undo my work."

Rose looked even more confused. "Huh?"

Rey took out a commlink. "We're ready now, Chewie. Bring it over!"

"Bring what over?" Rose asked. Rey only pointed above the treeline, and Rose saw the Millennium Falcon approaching, staying low and steady. As the ship got closer, Rose noticed something else. "Is it towing something? Another ship?"

Both ships settled down. The Millennium Falcon's ramp lowered and Chewie loped out, followed by C-3PO.

"Hi, Chewie," Rose said as she hurried past them. "Hi, Threepio!"

Chewie rumbled a greeting and C-3PO said a prim, "Hello to you, too!" but Rose was already past them, her friends following behind.

Rose's eyes were huge as she gazed at the battered fighter. "Is that an original T-65B X-wing?" she asked. "What a beauty!"

BB-8 beeped with sympathy. "It's seen better days," Poe agreed.

From the astromech socket behind the cockpit, R2-D2 gave an indignant whistle.

"I mean, she's a classic ship," Poe said hastily. "And in surprisingly good condition, considering what she's been through."

"Wait a second…" Rose said, her face suddenly serious. She looked at Artoo, then at Chewbacca, then finally at Rey. "This is it, isn't it? This is…"

Rey nodded. "Luke Skywalker's X-wing."

Chewbacca hooted and patted Rey's head. Rose looked at Rey, waiting for a translation. "I had to do some pretty bodgy repairs on Ach-to to get it flying again," Rey explained. "Chewbacca's been undoing all that, to get it back to its original condition."

"Which is…" Poe began. Artoo gave a warning trill. "...fine. It just can't… fly."

Artoo hooted a reluctant acknowledgement.

Finn took Rose's hand and laid it on the pitted fuselage. "It's yours."

"But…" Rose tried to form words. "What… no, I can't take it! Rey, if this ship belongs to anyone, it belongs to you! You trained with Luke, you… you recovered it from Ach-to--"

"Chewie and I have the Falcon," Rey said, waving at the freighter. "There was some talk of making the Falcon into a museum piece or a monument or something…"

Chewie roared indignantly.

Rey patted the Wookiee's arm. "I know, I know. Han would never have agreed to it. The Falcon doesn't belong in a museum."

Finn bent down a little to look into Rose's eyes. "We know how much you love rebuilding things, and you're really good at it. And this ship, it's something special. It should be with someone who really cares about it."

Rose shook her head, but it was more in disbelief than disagreement.

"It's going to be quite a project, make no mistake," Poe said. "It'll take a lot of patience and hard work, and I know you've got plenty of both."

"We can help when we're around," Rey added. "But it will be your project to see to completion. If you want it to be."

Before Rose could gather her thoughts to put them into words, Artoo began to beep and squawk. Poe blinked. "I didn't catch half that. And the other half…" he widened his eyes. "BB-8, don't let me catch you talking like that!"

Threepio shuffled forward. "Sir, if I may?"

"Of course, Threepio," Poe said.

"Artoo says that, if anyone owns the X-wing, it's him."

Rose broke into a smile. "Of course! He's totally right. See? I couldn't--"

"And he'd like you to repair it," Threepio went on. Artoo beeped again. "Yes, I know, Artoo, I was getting to that! And, when it's repaired enough, he'd like you to fly it. As often and as long as you want."

It took a while before Rose could speak. She swiped her fingers under her eyes to brush away the tears. "You guys, I… this is the best birth--" Her voice broke.

Finn held up a hand. "Rose Tico Appreciation Day."

Rose nodded, grateful. "It's the best day ever."

Poe, Finn, and Rey stepped forward and embraced her, followed a moment later by Chewie, whose hug enfolded them all. BB-8 pushed aside Poe's leg to give Rose's leg a fond bump.

"Rose Tico Appreciation Day?" Threepio asked, as if to himself. "Yes, that sounds like a wonderful holiday. I shall add it to the official calendar immediately!"


End file.
